Disclaimer – Alice in Wonderland is Lewis Carroll's: Disney owns the original names, character derivatives and plot elements which were introduced by the 2010/2016 films. This is a freely available fan fiction published only on fanfiction . net, and you should never find yourself being charged money for it.

The shore by Salazen Grum was white and empty that afternoon, when the Walrus returned with Alice.

The young woman's yellow hair was sodden and tangled, and her skin was very white. The Walrus, wallowing shore-wards through the white-capped waves, had her pressed to his side under one large flipper. He flopped his way up through the surf, and deposited her in the shallows. Then he leaned over to nose at her, slowly, with his doggish, melancholy face.

But the Alice lay very still, her lips blue and her eyelids shut tight: they would not open.

The Walrus groaned deep down in his throat. Two large tears formed in his cloudy black eyes, and ran slowly down his snout.

"Oh dear, oh my, what a terrible pity…!"

Then he raised his head and shook himself all over in one massive, jiggling hrrr-ummmph! He slapped his tail down on the shore in his grief - so it would be evident to the gulls around that he did indeed regret his mistake - and opening his whiskery mouth, let out a sound like the ringing of a great clear bell over the shore. Dong - dong - dong - dong.

From the twisting turning docks, lined with white-sailed ships, that spiraled out from the walls of Salazen Grum, a pack of figures came running. Foremost among them was a rabbit, dressed all in silver, and as he hurried forward and skidded to a stop before the Walrus, his eyes never left the shining pocket watch he held with one fore-paw.

"The Alarum! The Alarum!" cried the White Rabbit indignantly. "Why, it is seven o'clock in the morning, and far too early to be calling an Alarum!"

The Walrus only let out a lugubrious groan, and slapped the sand before him mournfully with one flipper.

The Rabbit caught sight of the sodden form behind the Walrus. He blinked in dismay, and squinted at it through his monocle. "Oh my!" he exclaimed, and his small, pink nose twitched violently. "Is that - "

"It is The Alice," moaned the Walrus, "I have brought her. And I fear that I have Drowned Her."

"Nonsense!" cried the White Rabbit. "It is not possible! Not possible! Why - why was I not told? Who gave you permission to fetch the Alice? Why was I not sent on such an errand? Why, I did it quite satisfactorily the last time!"

"The Queen sent me," choked the Walrus, amidst his tears, "And she sent Me because You cannot swiiiiiim."

"Oh, stop making such noise!" exclaimed the rabbit. He was even more upset than he would have been usually, both because stepping forward to examine Alice meant he had to get his hind paws wet, and because the Walrus, looming overhead, was raining tears down all over his new silver waistcoat. "It does no good. You will drown her a second time! Alice! Alice! Wake up! Oh, this is not working! You! Help me bring to the castle at once!" (This last order was directed at a small fleet of nervous-looking frogs, who had followed him down to the shore.)

"Yes, sir!" croaked the foremost of them.

Under his direction, the frog footmen seized the prone form of Underland's only Alice, and began to carry it up over the beach. The White Rabbit followed them, complaining loudly whenever they wobbled in formation, or let an arm or a leg drag in the sand.

The Walrus remained behind. As the ungainly procession passed beyond the reach of his short-sighted eyes, he let out a long sniffle.

"You don't think the Queen will be too angry with me?", he called out after them. "You don't think she will cease my oyster ration?"

"I expect she will be very disappointed!" snapped the Rabbit back over his shoulder. "Drowning the Alice! In fact, I should be surprised if you ever get an oyster from Mirana's kitchen ever again!"

"Oh, dear..." moaned the Walrus. And he flopped off into the surf, as they continued up towards Salazen Grum.